Conventionally, splitting devices for splitting substrates made of a brittle material along splitting grooves formed therein into separate pieces are known. For example, Patent Documents 1 to 3 listed below disclose such splitting devices and splitting methods thereof.
The dividing jig (splitting device) disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a left and a right holding members for holding a ceramic substrate formed with dividing grooves (splitting grooves) from a left and a right direction of a dividing groove, and rotating plates respectively fixed to the left and the right holding members and rotatable around their own rotation axis. With this dividing jig, the rotating plates are rotated around their rotation axis such that the holding member on one side only is rotated to apply a bending moment to the ceramic substrate held by the left and the right holding members so as to split apart the ceramic substrate along the dividing groove.
The splitting device disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a pair of substrate holding members for holding a brittle material substrate on both sides of a split line (splitting groove) formed in the substrate. One of the substrate holding members is disposed swingably around a shaft located substantially directly below and parallel to the split line. With this splitting device, one of the substrate holding members is turned around the shaft to apply a splitting load to the brittle material substrate so as to split apart this substrate along the split line.
The breaking device (splitting device) disclosed in Patent Document 3 includes a first product table and a second product table on which a brittle material substrate formed with a scribed line (splitting groove) is placed such that the scribed line is positioned in a gap between the tables. This breaking device also includes a first product clamp unit for securing the brittle material substrate between itself and the first product table and a second product clamp unit for securing the brittle material substrate between itself and the second product table. This breaking device further includes an inclining mechanism allowing for integral rotation of the second product table and the second product clamp unit around an inclination axis positioned parallel to the scribed line as the rotation axis. With this breaking device, the second product table and the second product clamp unit are integrally rotated around the inclination axis as the rotation axis by the inclining mechanism to apply a splitting load to the brittle material substrate so as to split apart the brittle material substrate along the scribed line.